Relative Obscurity
by Snow White1
Summary: This is my version of what I think the 5th book should contain. I think there should be more to it, because this is not all that great and has no real big plot, I suppose. It might later. The name isn't HP and the Order of the Pheonix because that would b
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: Just like in every other HP fic, most of the characters are property of J. K. Rowling, including - but not limited to - Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, Dumbledore, McGonagall, etc. I may have made up a few, but they are in light of Ms. Rowling's books, characters, and writing styles. :)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
'Twas a bright and sunny August day and every kid who was any kid was outside playing with all the other kids. Games of tag, hide-and-seek, and tons of different sports were being played everywhere.  
  
Although it seemed like any other day, today was actually a very special day. Maybe it was not special for the kids out playing, but it was special none-the-less. For up high in the sky was something that went unnoticed to the general public. An owl was flying so high, it was easily mistaken for a regular, everyday bird.  
  
But do most regular, everyday birds carry life-changing information? Not usually. Alas, this one did.  
  
The owl flew and flew and flew until it landed on a window-seal. It tapped on the window three times and waited.  
  
The window was opened by a sweet-looking old man, with long silvery-white hair. He untied a piece of parchment tied to the owl's leg with a string and read it carefully. A slight look of astonishment came on his face and a twinkle came in his eye.  
  
**********  
  
"King me!"  
  
"You know, I really should stop letting you win, Ron. I think it's inflating your ego."  
  
"Inflating my ego, Harry? No, no. My ego can't possibly be any more inflated than it already is!"  
  
Two boys who had been sitting at a chess table stood up and started down a crooked staircase outside the room they were playing chess in. The boy who was leading the pair was a nice-looking redheaded boy in his mid-teens. Tall and nicely built - though not incredibly muscular, he was the aforementioned "Ron." The other boy was, obviously, Harry. He had naturally untidy black hair with bright green eyes, and black round-frame glasses. If you by chance got to see past the messy hair, you would see a scar in the shape of a lightening bolt on his forehead, but we'll get into that later.  
  
Just with a quick glance in the kitchen of this house would tell you that Ron was the one who lived here. Six bright red=heads were randomly walking around like mobile fire.  
  
Those six people were Ron's parents, Arthur and Molly, his younger sister, Ginny, older brother Percy, and older twin brothers Fred and George.  
  
Then there was Hermione. She was of average height, had medium-to-light brown hair that was relatively fluffy, and a beautiful complexion. Ron thought she was coming along quite nicely, but he'd never admit it if asked.  
  
Harry and Hermione were visiting Ron and the rest of the Weasley's (for that was their last name) for the remaining few weeks of summer, before the three - along with Ginny, Fred and George - returned to Hogwarts, their school.  
  
The main trio was going to be 5th years at Hogwarts when school came back in session. Ginny would be a 4th year, and the twins would be 7th years, which is the final year of Hogwarts.  
  
Hermione and Ginny were at one end of the table, talking excitedly about school starting with the feasts, and seeing the new 1st years get sorted. On the other side of the table, Fred and George were huddled over what looked like a small wind-up chicken. They'd wind it up, let it walk a few steps, then tap it with their wand. They repeated this cycle until it finally turned into a real chicken.  
  
"Oy! Mum! We did it!" Fred said, standing up with the chicken and walking towards his mother.  
  
"Boys!" Molly was almost screaming. "Now you two know not to abuse magic, especially not while school is out!"  
  
"So it's not quite as bad if school is in?" George piped in.  
  
"George... You knew very well what I meant."  
  
"Alright, alright," George replied slowly. "We'll change it back."  
  
"If we can!" Fred added quickly, taking the chicken - and George - outside, so as to not make a mess.   
  
"Are we going to Diagon Alley today, Mum?" Ron asked as he and Harry sat down where George and Fred were before the chicken incident.  
  
"Yes, we'll leave once I figure out our exact number as far as money goes."  
  
"Shouldn't there be just as much as last month?" Ginny questioned.  
  
"Well, thanks to your father's paycheck, and Percy's raffle-winnings..." at this, Percy revealed a big, wide grin of pride on his face. Molly continued with "We now have... 58 Galleons, and 5 Sickles - ooh, and 7 Knuts!"  
  
"Wow, Mrs. Weasley!" Hermione began, "Maybe you can buy Ron a larger attention span so that he might actually do his homework and I won't have to do it for him." She shot a friendly glare at Ron and he chuckled.  
  
"Then what would you do? All you ever do is work, I'm doing it for your own good!"  
  
"I do not just do homework! I - I -" she thought for a moment, "I do lots of stuff!"  
  
"Of really? Like what?"  
  
"Like... erm..."  
  
"We're waiting!"  
  
"Like reading! Not everything I read is for school," she was very proud of her answer.  
  
"If it's not for school, it's about school, like 'Hogwarts, A History'" he replied mocking Hermione with his scratchy falsetto.  
  
"I read Quidditch Through the Ages! That's not for or about school!"  
"Yeah, well -"  
  
"Oh shut it," Harry interrupted, obviously perturbed. "You sound like five year olds!"  
  
"Well she started it," Ron replied, yet again in a high pitched voice, mocking possibly a young girl.  
  
Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly and gave Ron a "you-are-SO-immature" look. Ron laughed and turned to face Harry again.  
  
"Alright kids," Molly said, with blinding motherliness. "I think we should get going before someone" looks in Ron's direction, "makes someone else." looks in Hermione's direction, "bite someone's head off."  
  
With that, she got up and retrieved a flower from the other side of the room.  
  
"Oh no!" Harry moaned, when he noticed the flower. "Not Floo Powder again!"  
  
Harry remembered a time before when he used to Floo Powder to get to Diagon Alley. He accidentally stuttered a bit and ended up in Knockturn Alley, a place a good wizard definately doesn't want to be if he can help it.  
  
"Oh, Harry, it's not that bad! But if you turn up in a small town in Russia, watch out for those Russian owls! They bite!" Molly replied, setting the Floo Flower down. She looked over at her husbsand, Arthur. He was asleep. "Arthur!"  
  
He jumped, "Hm - who? Oh, sorry, Molly. Had kind of a rough night last night."  
  
"Aww... What happened Mister Weasley?" Hermione said with a dense sense of sympathy in her voice.  
  
"Well," he began, while rubbing his head slowly. "I kept having this weird dream. About you, actually, Harry."  
  
"Me?" Harry said with a somewhat schocked look.  
  
"Yes, you. You, Ron, Hermione and Draco - of all people - were walking side-by-side through the Great Hall at Hogwarts. You seemed to not notice each other at all. Suddenly, this girl appears at the end of the Hall."  
  
"A girl?" Ginny asked, a bit of jealousy in her voice just incase it was a girl Harry would think was attractive. "What did she look like?"  
  
"She had dark brown - maybe even black - hair, and very fair skin. She had a cape on, so I couldn't make out a face.  
  
"What was odd, though, was that whenever the four of you saw her, you two Hermione and Ron - stopped walking, whereas Draco picked up speed as if he knew her. Harry, she seemed to be looking at you, trying to get you to come to her. When you get a little closer to her, she reaches out, like she was going to hug you. Right when you almost get there, it ends. I either wake up or the dream starts all over again."  
  
"Wow, Dad. Why do you think me and Hermione stopped?"  
  
"I'm not sure, Ron, but I sensed that you feared her. That you thought she was a Dark Witch or the like."  
  
Harry's eyes widened. He was used to weird dreams, but for some reason, this one intrigued him more than any of the others. Did this dream mirror reality? If so, who was the girl? Was she an older student Harry never noticed? How did Draco know her?  
  
He pondered this as Ginny, then Hermione took the Floo Powder, threw it in the fire, then said "Diagon Alley." Then it was his turn. He concentrated as hard as he could on saying the words right, so Mr. Weasley's dream and the girl disappeared from his mind. 


	2. Hogwarts' Sorting

Chapter 2 - Hogwarts' Sorting  
  
I would go into the group's trip to Diagon Alley, but nothing out of the wizarding ordinary happened. They got a few drinks at the Leaky Cauldron, bought their books at Flourish and Blotts, and their other supplies at the various stores in the area.  
By the time they got back to the Burrow - the Weasley's home - it was late. Tomorrow they'd get to packing all their stuff, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George would be boarding the Hogwarts Express, which just happens to be the only way for students to get to Hogwarts, since they can't fly there by broom, and especially not by car.  
The lot were very excited, but judging by the look on their worn-out faces, they were also very tired. They were undressed and in their beds by 9:30 and fast asleep by 10. The only sounds you could hear were the faint snores coming from certain rooms and Pigwideon - Ron's owl - bickering with Hedwig - Harry's owl - over a mouse they'd found.  
  
*****  
  
The next morning, Harry woke with something bright orange around him. He sat up awkwardly and groped around in front of him. Feeling nothing and not seeing his hands, he slowly brought his hands towards his head until he felt a sort of cloth.  
"What are you doing?" said a voice from his right. "You look like a zombie!"  
Harry felt something lift off his head and saw Ron's red hair and face staring at him as though he had just evolved into a polka-dotted rabbit.  
"Sorry I threw my Chudley Cannons shirt on you. I was looking for my wand." Ron gingerly walked across the room and buried himself in his closet.  
Stretching, Harry glanced to the bedside table and saw a long box hidden slightly under a few schoolbooks.  
"This is?" Harry said, pulling at the box and knocking off a few books.   
Ron came bounding over, jumping over random pieces of clothing and grasped the box. Opening it slowly and peeking inside, he said, "Yeah! Thanks Harry!" and pocketed it, throwing the box on the floor by the books.  
"You better hurry up and get ready, now. Mum's cooking breakfast, then we're off to King's Cross."  
King's Cross is a train station in muggle London that wizards and witches must access their platform, Platform 9 3/4, by walking through a wall-barrier between Platform 9 and Platform 10, inconspicuously to muggles.  
"All right, boys," ("Hey!" said Ginny) "And girls," Molly added ("Thank you!"). "We'll be doing the same as last year and arriving by taxi cabs to King's Cross, so try and keep the animals quiet this year, will you?"  
"Ah, Mum!" Fred said, grinning. "You'll have to bribe up a bit before we try to keep Pig quiet." He jerked his head over to a small bit of gray fluff flying around in small, quick circles, hooting loudly. "Although we did learn a nice curse in Defense Against the Dark Arts class that could silence him forever."  
"Fred!" Molly said, shocked. "That is Ron's owl! There'll be no killing of your brother's animals, or anything else, for that matter." Molly added, seeing George coming to butt in again with another sly remark.  
After they had gotten the animals safely quiet, the taxis drove off to King's Cross.  
  
Somewhere, in a very dark, crowded alley walked wizards in long, darkly colored cloaks, chatting amongst themselves.  
Off to a side, a voice was heard, only slightly louder than the crowd. "Lily!" was what it screamed.  
A young fair girl with dark brown - maybe even black - hair and brilliant green eyes turned her head at the sound. She seemed unaware of why she turned. She knew no one with the name "Lily." She turned back around and continued walking.  
  
After passing through to Platform 9 3/4, Harry, Ron and Hermione found an empty compartment towards the back of the Hogwarts Express and sat themselves in it. They immersed themselves in conversations about their classes (like Potions and Care of Magical Creatures), and their professors (like Professor Snape and Hagrid), among other things. One of their "professor" conversations about the lack of a professor. They knew they would have Defense Against the Dark Arts, but their professor from last year was no longer there. In fact, ever since Harry had come to Hogwarts, he had had a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor each year. Who would it be this year?  
By the time the train reached the platform at Hogwarts, the three were dreadfully hungry and ready for the feast to begin. They dreamt of mashed potatoes, chicken, tripe, peas, beef, corn on the cob, and sausage, just to name a few items.  
As they entered the Great Hall, they noticed all the usual decorations. Four extremely long tables lay in the Hall, each representing one of the four houses. Closest to the door was Slytherin, then house of such like Draco Malfoy. Next in line is Ravenclaw, where Cho Chang (Harry's crush) resided. Third down was Hufflepuff, where the late Cedric Diggory, Hogwarts Champion and Cho's ex-boyfriend had been put. But the last table is where Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George were all headed. Gryffindor. All the Weasley children were or had been in Gryffindor, including the three eldest Weasleys, Bill, Charlie and Percy.  
When everyone had been seated, another door opened and about 40 kids walked in looking extremely nervous. A somewhat aged witch followed with a stool and an old, battered and torn wizard's hat. She placed the stool in the front of the Hall, and then the Hat was placed on the stool.  
Almost immediately, two identical, symmetrical holes in the hate opened, as did yet another larger hole further down in the hat. The first years jumped. This hat had eyes and a mouth! Well, sort of. There were no eyeballs in the eye area, and no tongue or teeth in the mouth hole.  
Quickly, the hat's mouth opened wider, and out burst a song:  
"Though torn tattered, and broken,  
I remain the same today,  
My age has not affected,  
The things I will soon say.  
I will put you in your house,  
The one that's right for you,  
Is it Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw,  
Or Slytherin that I'll choose?  
Gryffindor needs brave ones,  
Hufflepuff means dedication,  
Ravenclaw wants intelligence,  
While Slytherin requires ambition,  
With me to judge your character,  
You really shouldn't fear,  
I will not be biased,  
When place upon your ear!"  
Though the Hall was completely silent through the hat's song, you would never have known now, for the room had burst with applause, cheers, and whispers of "it's the Sorting Hat!"  
And that it was. The Sorting Hat would be placed on the heads of each of the kids up front. Then, the Hat would yell out the house the child would be put in.  
The witch, namely Professor McGonagall, unrolled a large piece of parchment and cleared her throat.  
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said, as she did every year.  
"Aude, Isabelle."  
A young girl with jet black, straight hair walked forward, somewhat nervously, and the hat was put on her head. Quick as lightening, it yelled, "Slytherin!"  
"Barclay, Conary."  
A bit taller than Isabelle, a quiet-looking boy with dirty blonde hair came up and sat on the stool. It took a while for the hat to sort him, but he ended up being put in Ravenclaw, the first to be sorted to that house.  
"Chapeau, Azure."  
A tall girl with short brown hair came forward to quickly be placed in "Gryffindor!"  
Next came "Collotto, Pic," who ended up a "Ravenclaw!" too. Another Slytherin named Ilara Creed followed.  
At this point, Harry noticed that all the professors look much happier than usual. Especially Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, who was normally a happy person, now looked simply ecstatic.  
The only person at the professor's table who didn't look so happy was Professor Snape. A greasy haired, crooked nosed man was Snape, and he despised even the mere thought of Harry. The look on his face made it seem as if he just found out that Harry was his own son. That would be a nightmare for both of them. Snape was almost glaring at the person currently being sorted ("Epans, Latona" who was put in Hufflepuff). He must have felt Harry's stare, because Snape looked over at Harry, and his lip curled. Harry looked away.  
As he glanced down the table, something caught his eye. Actually, someone. There, in the place of all the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, was a head full of long, silver hair that shown brightly. It was Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion from last year's Triwizard Tournament. She was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!  
She flung her shiny hair around, and smiled and waved at Harry. Harry nudged Ron and pointed to Fleur. She grinned and waved at him, too.  
"So now she's Professor Delacour," Ron whispered. "How weird."  
"Gredbank, James."  
A boy with light brown hair walked up confidently. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a mellow yellow shirt.  
"He's rather cute," Hermione said, a small grin on her face.  
"Do you hope he'll follow you into the library everyday, too?" Ron asked. "Then he'll ask you to come visit him far, far away in some unknown land?"  
"I never said I fancied him," Hermione replied, defiantly. "I just think he's attractive..."  
"For an eleven year old?" Ron said, probably louder than he meant to.  
"Well, obviously Hermione isn't the only one who thinks so," Harry said, looking around.  
She wasn't. Quite a few girls were staring at James and whispering between each other, grinning at the sight of the boy.  
When the Sorting Hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR!" the entire female population at Harry's table jumped up and screamed with happiness. He got off the stool, but started towards the Hufflepuff table.  
"What's he think he's doing?" Ron said.  
"He's talking to that girl. Look!" said a girl behind them, pointing.  
Sure enough, he stopped in front of a girl looking relatively nervous, with fair skin and dark hair ( yet a bit lighter than the aforementioned Isabelle Aude). He whispered something in her ear, grinned, and walked over to the Gryffindor table, where he was met with more yells and screams from not just the girls, but the entire table. He sat a few seats from Hermione.  
"Hey!" Hermione said, as the sorting continued. "James, isn't it? Who's that girl?"  
"You'll see," James replied, as he turned back to the sorting.  
After a few people, Professor McGonagall called "Moon, Piper" and the girl James was talking to went forward. She turned towards James, sighed, and sat on the stool. Her face looked calm, but her hands gripped the bottom of the stool tightly.  
"Gryffindor!"  
The girl grinned and ran over to where James was sitting as "Parker, Riley," walked up and become another member of Ravenclaw.  
There was little important that happened after that. More people like "Stirling, Alisha," and "Whisp, Matt," walked up and were sorted.  
The end had come. Professor McGonagall rolled up her parchment and moved the stool off the stage.  
It was now that the silver-haired Professor Dumbledore stood up.  
"This year," Dumbledore began. "I have on this to say: Glickledybop at midnight, my dears!" 


End file.
